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The Best Ways to Watch Videos Online

It’s easy to watch movies and TV shows on your computer or Web-connected television. But it’s a bit of a head-scratcher to figure out which streaming-video provider to sign up for. Below, how the top five vendors rate.

Where to Watch Videos Online

Whether you like to watch your favorite shows and movies on a phone, a tablet, a desktop computer, or even that strange big, black, rectangular thingie in your living room, chances are you’re leaning more and more toward the Internet as a source of video entertainment. With so many streaming and downloading services, though, it can be hard to know which one (or which combination of several) is right for you. Here’s what you need to know to get started.

The ServicesMost are available to watch via a Windows or Mac computer, iPad, iPhone, Android tablet, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Roku, and various WiFi-enabled TVs and Blu-Ray players.

Amazon Prime Instant Video

Check the services’ individual sites for full lists of compatible devices.Can’t decide between streaming, renting, or buying? Don’t. Amazon Prime Instant Video gives you all three. While the massive streaming library makes it difficult to ever say, “I can’t find anything to watch,” you’ll always have the à la carte rentals as a backup. TV episodes of current shows usually appear within a day of their original broadcast.

The cost: $79 a year ($6.58 a month) for access to the Amazon Prime streaming library. Additionally, you can rent non-Prime movies for $2 to $5, rent TV episodes for $2 to $3, or buy movies for $5 to $15.

Worth noting: Amazon Prime membership also gets you free two-day shipping on all orders from the e-tail giant (movie-related or not).

The downside: Browsing for rentals can be frustrating when you repeatedly discover that many of the newest movie releases are for purchase only.

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